Science and Technology Consellor

Dr. Jean Arlat, Science and Technology Counsellor

Jean Arlat has been appointed as Science and Technology Counsellor at the French Embassy in London in September 2016.

He graduated in Electrical Engineering from the Institut National des Sciences Appliquées in Toulouse (1976); he received his PhD (1979) and his Docteur ès Sciences diploma, both in Computer Science from the Institut National Polytechnique in Toulouse. In 1980, he was recruited by the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and started to work with the Laboratory for Analysis and Architecture of Systems (LAAS-CNRS) in Toulouse; he currently holds the position of Directeur de Recherche at CNRS. He was appointed as Director of LAAS-CNRS from 2011 to 2015. Due to the wide spectrum of activities conducted there, he was acquainted with a large set of fields (computer science, robotics an artificial intelligence, control theory, micro and nanosystems) and has contributed to promote interdisciplinary research (cyber-physical systems, sustainable energy production and management, technology for health).

His personal research area concerns the dependability of computer systems. His work has focused mainly on the experimental validation and benchmarking of the resilience of embedded systems aimed at critical applications (transports, space, energy, etc.), encompassing both accidental (hardware and software) faults and malicious faults. He has also contributed to foster partnership with industry; in particular, from 1997 to 2000, he led the Laboratory for Dependability Engineering (LIS) that gathered, on LAAS premises, researchers of the laboratory and engineers from five major French companies: Airbus, Airbus Defence & Space, Electricité de France, Areva TA and Thales. He contributed as a member of the Scientific Councils for the Research and Technology Institutes Antoine de Saint Exupéry (2013-2016) and Railenium (2014-2016). He was also appointed as a member of the Boards for the Carnot Institutes Network (2011-2016) and for the Society for Accelerating Technology Transfer: Toulouse Tech Transfer (2012-2016).

He has held responsibilities with international learned societies; in particular, he chaired the IFIP Working Group 10.4 (1999-2005) and the IEEE Technical Committee (1994-1995), both on Dependable Computing and Fault Tolerance. He has contributed to several international collaborations (BR, TW, ZA) and made long-term sojourns abroad, including six months in Japan (TIT - 1992) and one year in the US (UCLA - 1979-80). He has also contributed to several EU-funded projects, most of them involving partners in the United Kingdom.

Contact: jean.arlat[at]ambascience.co.uk

Mrs Laure Chelbi, PA to the Counsellor and Secretary of the Department

Since March 2005, Laure Chelbi is PA to the Counsellor and Secretary of the Higher Education, Research and Innovation Department.

Her previous positions were as PA and/or secretary in a variety of areas : shipping, diplomatic, oil exploration and production, and higher education.

Contact : laure.chelbi[at]ambascience.co.uk

Deputy Head - Higher Education, Research and Innovation

Alice Béja was appointed as Science, Innovation and Higher Education Attachée for the French Embassy in London at the beginning of October, 2018. She is a former student of the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon and holds a PhD in American Studies from the Université Sorbonne Nouvelle. She joined the Lille Institute of political Studies in 2015, and is a researcher in the social sciences research center CERAPS (UMR 8026). Her research focuses on anarchism in the United States, the cultural history of the US-American left and the relationship between politics and literature. She has published John Dos Passos, la littérature et la politique (Honoré Champion, 2015). An editor at French social sciences journal Esprit between 2011 and 2015, she is today a member of the editorial board.

Contact: clarisse.berthezene[at]ambascience.co.uk

Ms Francine Peyroux, Research and Higher Education Assistant

Francine Peyroux obtained a Master’s degree in Geography at the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne in the area of emerging and developing countries. After being a teaching assistant in a Kent Grammar School, she joined the French Embassy as Research and Higher Education Assistant where she manages the Entente Cordiale Scholarship Scheme among other things.

Contact : francine.peyroux[at]diplomatie.gouv.fr

Science Team

Having completed a PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Manchester (2001), which was followed by a short post-doc position at King’s College London (2002-03), Dr. Claire Mouchot joined the Higher Education, Research and Innovation Department of the French Embassy in December 2003 where she is Scientific Attaché in charge of Life Sciences.

Ludovic Drouin has obtained a D. Phil. In chemistry from the University of Oxford (2008), after which he undertook a post-doctorate training in Prof. Shibasaki’s laboratory (2008-2009) at the University of Tokyo. After having spent his 2 years of post-doc, he joined the University of Paris-Sud and took a lecturer position in Prof. Aitken’s laboratory (2009). He then joined the Institute of Cancer Research London (ICR) (2010-2015) where he worked in the Drug Discovery Unit in the group of Dr. Hoelder. Since 2016, Ludovic has worked at the French Embassy in London as scientific attaché in the area covering Physical Sciences, Innovation, Energy and Environment.

Stephanie Dos Santos is responsible for facilitating international cooperation in research and innovation in the areas of information and communication technologies and artificial intelligence. She is also in charge of the department’s communication activities. After completing a Master’s degree in Geopolitics (École Normale Supérieure & Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne), Stephanie worked as an analyst and project officer for several organizations and companies (CNRS, UNESCO, CEA, etc.). She joined the French Embassy in January 2017 as Deputy Science Attaché.

Contact: stephanie.dossantos[at]ambascience.co.uk

Receptionist

Mrs Maryvonne Delorme - Receptionist ; Facilities manager

Maryvonne works for the French Embassy since 1998 and joined the Higher Education, Research and Innovation Department in 2000. She is in charge of the reception, facilities management and CNRS missions